Lynchburg council approves rezoning for Wawa site, directs staff to study lowering Leesville Road speed limit

Lynchburg’s City Council voted Feb. 10 to amend the city’s future land use map and rezone three parcels at 1516 Greenview Drive and 794/798 Leesville Road to a B3 community business designation to allow construction of a Wawa convenience store with a fuel canopy.

City planner Rachel Freshaisen summarized the petition, saying the Planning Commission had recommended approval and the city’s engineering division reviewed a traffic study and entrance configurations. The proposal would keep Gary’s Garden Center on one parcel, demolish a small office building, and build a roughly 6,000‑square‑foot store with a fuel canopy containing six islands (12 fueling positions), primary landscaping and vegetated buffers to preserve mature trees, Freshaisen said.

Chris Burns, agent for TPB Enterprises and Westwood Professional Services, told council the design locates the building near the intersection to maximize separation from neighboring residences and that the access plan—right‑in/right‑out and controlled left‑in movements—was developed with transportation staff and supported by traffic counts and accepted trip‑generation methods. Mike Varga, Wawa’s real‑estate engineer, said Wawa typically creates construction and store jobs and intends to “be a great neighbor” in Lynchburg.

A nearby resident, Thomas Sorrells, said he supports the store but questioned the safety of the proposed access and the timing and representativeness of the traffic study. “I question and doubt the current safety of the plan as proposed,” Sorrells said, citing FOIA returns that showed rising accidents at the intersection in recent years and noting several new developments that he said were not included in the original study.

Burns responded that a supplemental narrative was prepared after the planning commission hearing to account for developments the team had missed; he said staff and transportation reviewers concurred that the supplemental information did not change the study’s conclusions and that stopping sight distances at the Leesville access meet standards.

Council discussion centered on safety along Leesville Road and whether a conditional‑use permit would better limit future uses. One council member said the B3 zoning is required for a convenience store with fuel pumps and that conditions on the existing B3C zoning would not permit this use.

Councilor [unnamed in transcript] moved to approve the future land use map amendment and to direct staff to pursue lowering the speed limit on Leesville Road to 35 miles per hour; members voted to direct staff to initiate the speed‑limit review 7‑0. The rezoning vote passed 6‑1.

Councilors said they expected staff to bring back engineering analysis and traffic recommendations before final site‑plan approvals. The council approved the land‑use changes and the related motions at the Feb. 10 meeting; the petitioner will next proceed through site‑plan review and engineering approvals required by the city.